Ankara -- The Assyrian civilization recorded its history on clay tablets. Ancient Assyrian merchants, for example, documented their commercial and economic activities on these tablets. However, they also preserved other aspects of life, most notably the practice of blood money.
Although the Assyrian population of Iraq has declined dramatically this century, to below one per cent of the population, five of the 26-member national football squad that qualified for the soccer-mad country's first World Cup since 1986 are Assyrian Christians.
Karm El Tin, Metn District, Mount Lebanon -- The Monastery of Saints Peter and Paul, Karm El Tin stands as a witness to long centuries of faith and heritage. Bearing the names of the great apostles, Saint Peter and Saint Paul, the monastery is not merely a place of worship, but a deeply rooted spiritual and cultural landmark in the history of the region.
Researchers are painstakingly reconstructing the oldest-known map of the night sky -- previously thought lost forever -- by X-raying parchment that contains the star catalog hidden beneath other text. The map of the cosmos is thought to be the work of the renowned ancient astronomer Hipparchus, who lived from around 190 to 120 BCE, long before the invention of the telescope.
Three hundred and fifty years separate us from the last medieval Maronite epigraph, that of Our Lady of Ilige dated 1277 and the new inscription, dated 1628, at Mar Chalita of Ghosta, which marks the beginning of a renaissance that Lebanon was to experience under Ottoman rule.
Kochi, India -- As the Yuletide spirit fills the air, posters, cutouts and dolls of Santa Claus crop up everywhere, heralding the season of love and sharing. However, not many may know that Santa, the most popular symbol of Christmas, is inspired from and modelled after St Nicholas, a fourth-century bishop from Myra in ancient Turkey known for his generosity and secret gift-giving.